Parish president and sheriff reach deal to save deputy jobs

Friday

Terrebonne Parish President Gordy Dove and Sheriff Jerry Larpenter have reached a deal to save 29 deputy jobs, but it must be approved by the Parish Council.

Dove agreed to pay the Sheriff’s Office $1.5 million to keep jail personnel who were scheduled to be laid off by the end of the year, Larpenter said.

“Thirty-nine of them got the letter and we’re hoping to keep 29,” the sheriff said. “I think the council and the parish realize it’s better to spend their tax dollars inside the parish.”

The sheriff began slashing his budget shortly after his proposed 0.5 percent sales tax increase failed to pass in November.

The sales tax increase would have pumped about $10.6 million into the Sheriff’s Office during its first year to help offset a budget shortfall and place an officer into every parish school, Larpenter said.

The agency collected about $30 million 2014, but it fell to about $26 million last year amid an ongoing oil bust that has taken a toll on the local economy.

Larpenter said he had to borrow about $4 million in 2017 and about $6 million this year to maintain his department’s services.

The sheriff eliminated several programs in the wake of the budget cuts including his inmate work program that provided Mardi Gras cleanup and numerous other services around the parish.

“In defense of the Sheriff’s Office, their budget is $26 million and mine is $217 million,” Dove said. “I can cut from 14 departments, but Jerry has to cut people. I’m sure that it was a tough decision for him.”

The sheriff recently shipped about 240 Terrebonne inmates to jails in Catahoula and Jackson parishes as a result of the impending budget cuts. Because the parish is responsible for the well-being of the inmates, the move could have cost $2.5 million, Dove said.

“It costs us about $24 per prisoner plus transportation costs,” Dove said. “By statute we’re liable for the housing of prisoners which includes food, medical services and maintenance of the jail. The sheriff is responsible for operating the jail. If you move prisoners to other jails it puts an undue financial burden on the parish to house them in these other locations.”

Dove said housing the inmates in other parishes also creates potential liability issues.

“You wouldn’t have control over them so if they’re injured or something we could get dragged into lawsuits,” Dove said. “We don’t know exactly how these other jails operate. So I met with Jerry about keeping the guards he was letting go. We ran the numbers and it came to about $1.5 million. If we funded them $1.5 million we’re looking to save the parish at least a million dollars if not more.”

Although the measure would have to get approval from the council next month, Dove said he's optimistic it will pass.

“I’ve spoken to some council members who seem to be in favor of it because it’s kind of a no-brainer,” Dove said. “This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve helped out another local agency. It’s something that I feel is the right thing to do and fiscally smart thing to do.”

Larpenter said in the meantime he will seek to fill the main jail and the former women’s jail with nonviolet state inmates. Louisiana holds about half of its state prisoners in local jails. Sheriffs are paid about $24 a day for a state inmate, but daily jail costs for an inmate often exceed that amount.

However, the number of nonviolent state inmates has decreased since Louisiana enacted criminal justice reform laws, Larpenter said.

“We’re going to hopefully open the two jails and see how that works,” Larpenter said. “We’re going to try and house some DOC inmates in them. Hopefully the state won’t release them faster than we can get them.”

Although the decision to pay the $1.5 million didn’t come easily, it was the right one, Dove said.

“It’s nobody’s fault that the oilfield and taxes went down,” Dove said. “It’s a parish issue not just a sheriff’s issue. This is 29 men and women and their families who won’t lose their jobs right before Christmas.”

--Staff Writer Dan Copp can be reached at 857-2202 or at dan.copp@houmatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter@DanVCopp.

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